All Along I Knew We'd Be Fine
by CassyR5
Summary: "Everything will happen it its own time, and until it does, he has everything he needs." Austin & Ally's up's and down's in their relationship and them dealing with Austin no longer having a career while on Ally's tour. / The aftermath of Relationships & Red Carpets. One-Shot.


**Summary: "Everything will happen it its own time, and until it does, he has everything he needs." Austin &amp; Ally's up's and down's in their relationship and them dealing with Austin no longer having a career while on Ally's tour. / The aftermath of Relationships &amp; Red Carpets. One-Shot.**

**A/N: This is long overdue, honestly. I started writing it about 4 months ago, I think, but I kept pausing either because of writer's block or I was working on something else. Plus, I started it over like three times before finally figuring out a satisfying plotline. I did consider splitting it into two parts (13K is a _lot_ of words), but there wasn't anywhere I could do so that I thought would work, so I just left it. But I'm really happy with how it turned out. Hopefully, you will be, too.**

**Also! I wrote this as if season four _hasn't_ premiered yet, so there are some things in here that don't really line up with what we've seen. So, yeah, just in case you get confused cause something in here is off or whatever. Anyway. I'll stop now so you can read.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin &amp; Ally, "18" by One Direction (title), or "All For You" and "Almost Home," both by Alex &amp; Sierra.**

* * *

The first day of her first national tour is busy. They arrive at the venue half an hour late, missing the chance to rehearse the last three songs on her set list because of meet and greets, which end up running ten minutes later than they're supposed to (she wants to talk to everybody, but apparently that's not so easy when she has around 100 people waiting to meet her). Then her show ends up being delayed 15 minutes because of 'technical difficulties' (her mic was working just fine in soundcheck, but it seems things can change in a few hours). But the crowd is loud, the music is perfect, and she even gets asked for an encore twice. And she loves every minute of it.

Back on her bus after the show, all they can talk about is the concert. Her smile never wavers once as her bandmates praise her for her incredible performances. She can tell they're just as excited as she is for the rest of this tour. She almost doesn't want this night to end, she's enjoying it so much. But at the same time, she can't say she isn't at least a little glad when her band leaves to go on their separate bus for the night. She hasn't been alone with him at all today, and right now that's all she wants.

Austin sits next to her, still laughing about something Jason - her guitarist - said before leaving, his arm around her shoulder. He never left her side once tonight, and it makes her smile just to think about that. About him, and them, and how happy he is whenever he's with her, despite everything that happened only a few days prior. They haven't talked about what he did, and she wonders if he even wants to, since he's never brought it up. But then again, neither has she, not wanting to potentially ruin something without realizing it. Though she's thought about it every day since it happened. The sacrifice he made to be with her. She knew he cared about her beforehand, that much was obvious, but she'd be lying if she said she thought he would ever give something as huge as his own music career to be with her. That's something she'll never be able to forget.

He finally turns to her, still smiling. "What are you thinking about?" he asks. She must have that look on her face - the one he's told her she gets every time she's deep in thought - that brought on this question.

She smiles. "You," she answers honestly. She takes a deep breath. "What you did for us."

He keeps his smile, but his eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. "What did I do?" he asks.

She giggles, thinking he might be joking. What else could she be talking about? Then she lightly shoves him with her shoulder. "You know what you did," she says, suddenly feeling nervous. Maybe this is his way of trying to tell her he doesn't want to talk about it. But she's beginning to think that she does.

He chuckles, but his expression doesn't change as he shakes his head. "No, I don't think I do," he replies.

She looks up at him, realizing that he really isn't kidding. "You know," she starts. "At the award show. Everything you said on that stage about...well, me. I just still can't believe you did that."

Realization dawns on his face, and his smile comes back. He tightens his grip around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "Well, you better believe it." He pauses before adding, "Guess you're stuck with me, huh?"

She laughs. "Stuck is an interesting way of putting it."

He laughs, too. "Why, do you feel worse than that? Like I've guilt-tripped you into being with me forever?"

She shakes her head. "No," she says. "More like the opposite."

He smiles. "So you feel more tied to me? Pinned? Attached?"

As he speaks, he leans in, getting closer with each word. She leans back, laughing, but he follows her as she moves until she's against the back of the couch, his face only an inch from hers.

She shakes her head. "Try again," she says.

"Hooked?" he says.

"No."

"Connected?"

"Mmm, one more time."

"Permanent?"

She nods, and suddenly she feels his lips on hers in a hard kiss. She breathes in sharply from the shock of its force, then relaxes and places her hands on his face to steady herself. He moves his hands to her back, pulling her tight to him as he deepens the kiss. He begins to lean back, pulling her with him, until they're sitting upright on the couch again, her practically on his lap. Her mouth moves over his, slow yet passionate, wanting to get lost in the kiss, in him. She can feel her mind clouding over, filling her with a sensation she doesn't recognize. Almost subconsciously, she begins to part her lips, wanting to continue, but that's when he decides to pull away. They sit staring at each other for a minute, the only sound being their hard breathing.

Austin makes the first move, raising his hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, then moving to rest his hand on her cheek. Leaning into his hand, she looks down and closes her eyes.

"You okay?" he asks.

She looks back up and smiles. "I couldn't be any better," she says.

* * *

He's surprised when Trish calls him a week into Ally's tour, asking him how he feels about doing an interview on The Helen Show in two days.

"An interview?" he asks. "Am I allowed to do that?"

"They contacted me, not Jimmy," she says, "so I'd say it's fine. Besides, it's not actually about your music. The people want to know about your big announcement at the award show, and they probably want to talk about you and Ally."

He thinks about this for a minute. As much as he loves talking about Ally, and as much as he thinks this interview might do him some good, he's not sure he wants to leave Ally when her tour just started. It may only be one interview now, but one could become two, which could become four and then who knows how many he'd be asked for and where would he be? He might never see Ally on her tour at all.

He sighs. "I don't know, Trish. It seems kinda pointless, if you ask me."

"If Jimmy sees, he might reconsider his decision. It'll give his record label a bad look, and he can't have that," she says.

He tries again. "What about Ally? I can't leave her."

This silences Trish for a minute. Then she says, "It'll only be the one interview, I swear. Honestly, Helen isn't the only one asking for you, but it's one of the biggest, and I thought it'd be good. You'll be back with Ally by the end of the week, I promise."

He takes a moment to think again. He looks over at his girlfriend, who's currently in the middle of rehearsing for her show later tonight. She's not looking his way, but he knows that in a few minutes they'll take a break and she'll come over here to talk to him. If he's still on the phone with Trish, she'll want to talk to her, and he just _knows_ Trish will tell her about this interview, and Ally will surely tell him to go, too. But if she has to hear it from someone, he'd rather it be him.

He takes a deep breath before responding. "Can I at least talk to Ally first? I think it'd be better to run it by her than just take off."

"Alright," Trish says. "Just call me back as soon as you can. I don't have all day to wait for an answer." And then someone shouts in the background, and Trish hangs up without a goodbye.

Of course, all day is what she ends up waiting, as Ally doesn't take her usual break like he thought she would, and she's too busy after rehearsal to talk for more than 2 minutes, and then she has meet and greets and then her show and by the time she gets on the tour bus later that night she's too tired to talk about something so serious.

"Can it wait until the morning?" she asks when he says he wants to talk. "If it's important, I can try to listen, but I'm so exhausted I don't think I can make it for another minute before I pass out."

He sighs. A tired Ally won't be much help in this situation, so he nods. "Yeah, that's fine," he says, trying to shrug it off as casually as he can. "I just want to be able to talk to you for more than 5 minutes at a time, that's all."

She purses her lips, then takes his hand. "I'm sorry. I know I've been rushing around all day. I didn't realize touring could be so time-consuming. But I promise we can talk in the morning before rehearsal."

He smiles. "Okay," he says, then leans down to kiss her quickly before letting her get some sleep.

As for him, sleep is the one thing he can't get that night as he thinks about having to talk to Ally the next morning. But he must pass out at some point, as the next thing he knows she's shaking him awake, telling him they have some time to talk now. Tiredly, he gets up and follows her into the kitchen.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Ally asks as she grabs herself some food from the cupboard. He watches as she sets a box of cereal and a bowl on the counter, but before she can go any further, he takes her hand and pulls her next to him on the couch.

He sighs. "Trish called yesterday," he starts.

She smiles. "Really? What about?" But when she sees his expression, her smile fades. "Was it that bad?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "Not _bad_, just...inconvenient," he says. "The Helen Show wants to do an interview with me about the whole award show thing and us."

Her smile returns. "Oh, really? That's great, Austin!" When he doesn't join her in her mini celebration, she frowns again. "What's wrong?"

"The interview is tomorrow," he says slowly. "Back in Miami."

"Oh," she says. Then, "...Oh."

"Yeah."

She tries for a smile again, but it appears forced. "Still! This would be really good for you, Austin. You should go," she says.

He sighs. He figured she would say that. "I know," he starts. "I just...I don't want to leave you. I mean, your tour literally just started."

She looks down at their hands sitting between them, quiet. "When would you be back?"

"Trish said it's just the one interview, so I should be back by the end of the week," he says.

He watches her as she takes in a deep breath, then nods. "You should go," she says, looking up. "You should go."

He sighs, then nods. "Okay," he says.

She smiles, then slides closer to him and wraps her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. As she does, it dawns on him that he really shouldn't go. He can't leave her; not after almost losing her. Even though it'll only be for a week, it's a week too long.

"Ally?" he says.

"Yeah?"

He pauses. "I love you."

She sighs. "I love you, too."

* * *

He only left last night but she's already begun to miss having him around all day (but if she's being honest, she started missing him the second he got off the bus). She knows he'll be back in just a few days, but she's starting to think it's a few days too many. She's become used to having him around all the time more than she realized. She's fallen in love with him more than she thought. She just wants to see him again.

She can't watch him live when he's on The Helen Show due to her concert, so she records it and watches it that night before she goes to bed. He was right when he said they were only going to talk about the award show and them. Especially them. Helen asks him a lot of questions about them, and a lot of them revolve around the future. _"How long have you been together?"_ becomes _"How long do you think you'll be together?"_ _"So you guys must really love each other, then?"_ quickly turns into _"Is she The One?"_ But the one question she can't get out of her head even after the interview is over and the TV is off is _"Do you think you did the right thing? Giving it all up for love?"_

Did he? When Helen asked, he answered very quickly, nodding as he said, "I know I did. I love Ally. I wasn't lying when I said I had no idea she'd become the best thing to ever happen to me, but she really has. I mean, I know it sounds cliche, but it's true. I don't want anything, even my music, if I can't be with her."

She believes him. She wants to believe him. She knows he believes this now, but she wonders for how long? How long will it be until he _doesn't_ think he did the right thing? How long will it be until he doesn't love her anymore?

She knows this is dumb. _Forever_, he'd told Helen. He wants to be with her forever. But how long will he want to be with her forever until he doesn't anymore?

"Stop it," she hears, and it takes her a second to realize it was her. "Stop thinking that way. He loves you. He will always love you."

Then her phone rings, and it's him, and she has to take a second to compose herself before she can pick it up.

"Hey," she says, hoping she doesn't sound too cheery to hear from him again.

"Hey!" he replies. "How was the show?"

She smiles. Of course he wants to talk about her night first. For once, she appreciates this. She's not sure she should talk about his interview yet. "It was good," she says. "Would've been better if you were there, though."

He chuckles. "I'm sure it was just as awesome as all your other shows without me. But don't worry, I should be able to see the next one."

"You're coming back tonight already?" she asks. She's sure he told her the end of the week, not tomorrow.

He laughs. "Glad to be rid of me, are you?" he jokes. "No. I'm at home right now, but I'll be getting on a plane tomorrow morning. I should be back before your show starts."

She smiles. "That's good," she says. She looks down at her shirt. Spotting a lose thread, she tugs at it, not sure what to say next.

"You alright?" he asks. "You're pretty quiet tonight."

She wants to tell him she's just tired, or she misses him, but she also wants to know the truth. Before she gives herself a chance to think it through, she blurts out, "Do you think you did the right thing?"

She can hear him shift around before responding slowly. "What do you mean?"

She could take it back. She could, but she knows he won't let her off that easily. She says, "Do you think giving up your career for me was the right thing to do?"

He sounds mostly worried when he replies, but she can also hear a hint of anger as he says, "Ally, what are you trying to say?"

She sighs. "I'm saying that I don't know if that was a good idea, Austin. You were upset and you probably weren't thinking straight and -"

"Ally, I knew what I was getting myself into then and I feel the exact same way now," he says, and she was right to think he was angry, too. "What makes you think I didn't do the right thing? Are _you_ suddenly feeling a change of heart or -"

"No!" she says quickly. The last thing she wants is for him to think she doesn't love him anymore. "No, this isn't about me, this is about you, and what you did, and how you feel or will feel in 5 or 10 years down the road when we don't know where we'll be and I don't want you looking back and thinking that you gave it all up for the wrong girl."

"Is that what this is about?" he says, his tone softer than before. Now he sounds worried again. "You're afraid that I don't want to be with you forever? That I'll fall out of love with you?"

She doesn't answer, but her silence tells him what he needs to know.

"Ally, that's -" He stops. "That's insane. That's scary. You can't start thinking that way, especially when I can't be there in person to tell you the honest truth that I will _never_ stop loving you. Okay? I gave up my career because I wanna be with you. Forever. You _have_ to believe me when I say that."

She feels something wet slide down her cheek, and she raises her hand to feel tears present. She didn't realize she'd started crying while he was talking. But she manages to choke out a simple, "Okay," in response.

"Don't scare me like that," he says shakily.

She nods. "I'm sorry."

"No, _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have left you."

She shakes her head. "You did what you had to do. It's fine."

"Still. It's not worth it if it means I can't always be there when you need me." He pauses. "I love you."

She smiles. "I know," she mutters. "I love you, too."

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says.

She nods. "Tomorrow," she says. And with that, they hang up, and she heads to bed, but with less weight in her chest at the thought of him not here. She'll see him again tomorrow. Everything will be okay.

* * *

They've officially been together for 2 months now and all he wants to do is take her out to a nice dinner and have some time alone with his girlfriend. But apparently, she has other plans.

"Okay, so I have rehearsals at 11 today, because meet and greets got bumped up to 3:30 since there's twice as many people coming, but the show is still at 8, so that's good, but I'll still have less time for soundcheck because of the meet, not to mention I'm probably going to be answering twice as many questions at the Q&amp;A, so that'll bring me down to maybe an hour for soundcheck - I guess it depends on the questions, you never know what fans will ask these days, but -"

"Ally!" he finally says, cutting her off in the middle of rambling off her messy schedule. When she looks up, he says, "First of all, none of that made any sense to me. And second, why am I getting the feeling that you have no free time whatsoever today?"

She looks at her phone. After scrolling a bit, she says, "Probably because I don't."

He frowns. "Really? No time at all? Like, none?"

She shakes her head. "Well, I don't have rehearsals for another 30 minutes, but other than that, I'm booked." She pauses. "Why do you sound so surprised? My schedule is usually like this. And if I have extra time, I use it to write or sleep."

"I know, but I wanted to spend some time with you today," he says. "I was _going_ to try and find a nice place for us to have dinner tonight, but apparently that can't happen."

She gives him a confused look before saying, "Wait, why do you wanna go out tonight? We went out two nights ago on my day off."

He opens his mouth to respond, then stops. Of course he wants to go out tonight! It's their anniversary. They went out on their one-month anniversary, so it only makes sense to continue the trend after two months, right?

He chuckles, albeit nervously. "Why _wouldn't_ we go out tonight?" he asks.

"Because I have a show?" she says slowly, but she phrases it more like a question rather than an answer.

"Well, I know that _now_, but if you didn't, we'd go out," he says.

She nods slowly. "But why? That's what I'm asking."

And then he gets it.

She forgot.

She forgot about their anniversary.

"Did you forget about something?" he starts. "Today is -"

But then her phone rings, cutting him off. "And that would be Jason telling me to get to rehearsals," she says as she reads the text she received. She looks up. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing. I'll, uh, I'll meet you there. Still have to get dressed."

She nods. "Okay," she says, getting up. She pauses beside him, then says, "I promise we can go out some other time. Just not tonight." And then she leans down and places a quick kiss on his cheek before heading to her rehearsals.

He doesn't look up as she leaves, but when the door closes and he knows she can't hear him, he lets out a sigh. He understands that she's been pretty busy since the tour started, but he never expected her to forget about their anniversary. Ths is Ally he's talking about; she remembers everything! So why has she forgotten about today?

Reluctantly, he gets up and gets dressed before heading inside to watch Ally rehearse. She wasn't kidding when she said she was booked all day, as she goes straight from rehearsal to get ready for meet and greets, and from there she has Q&amp;A _and_ soundcheck, and by the time all of that is done she has a little over an hour until her show starts.

And not once does he bring up their anniversary.

It's not because he doesn't have the chance to (which he really doesn't), but even if he did, what would he say? "Hey, Ally, you did great out there, by the way, Happy Two-Month Anniversary, thanks for forgetting." He can't say that! She'd feel bad, and it would only distract her from her show. No, for now, he has to keep it to himself. He can tell her after the show.

But the end of the show comes, and her band come up with the great idea to go out for the night, since they don't have a show tomorrow, and so for the next two hours he's stuck next to her in a booth at an old restaurant, unable to say a word about it.

Thankfully, the band don't stick around too long after they head back, and he finally gets the chance to talk to her alone again (as much as he loves hanging around her bandmates, they certainly like to talk. Maybe even as much as Ally).

She's about to walk into the bedroom, but he grabs her hand to stop her.

"Wait, Ally," he says.

She turns around. "What is it?" she asks.

He pauses for a moment, trying to come up with the best way to ask her this. He says, "What's today's date?"

She looks at him with utter confusion. "What?" she asks.

"What's today's date?" he repeats.

"June 24th, why?"

Ignoring her question, he says, "And what was the date exactly two months ago?"

"April twenty -" She stops as realization sets in. "April 24th. Also known as prom, _also_ known as the day we got back together. Today was our two-month anniversary and I completely forgot!" She puts her hands up to her face and looks down, then sits on the couch. She pulls her hands away as he sits next to her. "I'm so sorry, Austin. I don't know how I managed to forget. I mean, I remember everything! Well, almost everything."

This causes him to laugh. "It's okay, Ally. I get it. You have your tour going on. I shouldn't expect you to remember so many different things," he says.

"Still," she says. She takes his hand and intertwines their fingers together. "I'm sorry again. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

He smiles. "You really don't have to do that, but thank you."

She smiles, then slides closer and leans up, kissing him slowly. When she pulls back, she says, "is it too late for me to say 'Happy Two-Month Anniversary?' "

He laughs. "I don't think so."

"Well. Then Happy Two-Month Anniversary, Austin," she says.

"Happy Two-Month Anniversary, Ally."

* * *

After nearly a month of Q&amp;A's, she's gotten pretty used to the fans asking her questions about her relationship with Austin. She doesn't mind them, nor does she think they ask too many (honestly, most question are just for her, but she usually gets at least two or three asking about him). But even then, the question she gets today about him throws her off.

"Does Austin Moon still sing with you?" a girl about 10 years old asks from the front row.

"Like, for fun? When we can, yeah," she says. She's about to move on, but the girl continues.

"No, I mean on stage. Do you still perform together?"

Oh.

Ally smiles. "What was your name, sweetie?" she asks.

The girl smiles. "Isabelle," she says proudly.

"Well, Isabelle, unfortunately, we can't. Because of some issues with Austin's record label, he's not allowed to sing on stage," she explains.

"Oh. Well, what if he's not on a stage? What about then?"

She laughs lightly, confused. "What do you mean?"

"What about now? If you both sat down here in the audience, would that count?"

Now she laughs. "Ohh, I see," she says. "You wanna see us sing together now, huh?"

Isabelle nods, and quickly the other fans in the audience join in, too, adding in shouts of "Yeah!" and "You should bring him out here!"

Ally smiles and looks backstage to where Austin is standing. He's just on the edge, close enough that she can see him and he can see her, but the audience can't. He's laughing, so he must know what's going on, but it still gets her thinking. One song at a Q&amp;A couldn't hurt, right? He's not technically performing for real, right? At least, not in the way Jimmy won't allow, she thinks.

She turns back to her audience and says, "Why don't I go see what he thinks, and then I'll be right back?" Then she gets up and quickly walks toward him backstage.

"What are you doing?" he asks when she reaches him.

"The fans wanna hear us sing together," she says. "One song couldn't hurt, right? Not at a Q&amp;A."

He sighs. "I don't know, Ally..."

"Please?" she asks, taking his hand. "It'll be fun. And we haven't had the chance to really sing together on stage in a while. I miss that."

"Now don't you go guilt-tripping me into this," he says. "I just don't wanna take the attention away from you. This is your tour, not mine."

"I don't have a problem sharing the spotlight," she says. "It's more than big enough for the two of us."

He sighs. "I just don't think it'd be a good idea, Ally."

She looks down. "Alright," she mutters sadly. "Guess I'll just go tell the fans you don't wanna sing." She starts walking backwards slowly. "Here I go. About to break their hearts. And their broken hearts will break mine. And then my broken heart will break yours. And then everyone will be sad. All because Austin Moon doesn't wanna sing at his girlfriend's Q&amp;A with her."

He laughs as she slowly walks away, rambling about dramatically. Finally, he tugs on her hand, stopping her in her tracks. "Fine!" he says. "I'll sing. But only one song."

She ignores the last part and jumps at him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you!" she says.

He just laughs as she takes his hand and drags him onto the stage with her. The fans start shouting when they see him, and she watches him as his smile grows a little bigger at the sight of their joyous reaction.

She finds a second stool for him to sit on and sets it besides hers, sitting down. "So, you guys still wanna hear us sing?"

Everyone cheers again, clearly meaning yes. Austin grabs a mic from one of the other stands on stage, then says, "Is there anything specific you guys wanna hear?"

Many of them shout for "Don't Look Down" or "You Can Come to Me," but the most common one asked for is something new. Ally looks down at Isabelle standing in the front.

"What do you wanna hear, Isabelle?" she asks her.

Isabelle smiles, glad to have been asked such an important question. "Something new," she says.

Ally looks at Austin next to her. "Something new, it is."

Austin grabs an acoustic guitar from on stage, then looks to Ally. "What did you wanna sing?"

She thinks for a moment. "What about the song we finished working on last week?"

He nods. "Sounds good."

To the fans, she says, "This song is called 'All For You.' " And once Austin is ready, he begins playing, strumming for a few seconds before finally singing.

_Here I go  
Another night I find myself losing all control  
You won't believe what I've been thinking_

_I wanna rob a bank  
Get you everything you could ever need  
Steal a plane  
And fly you wherever you want_

At the chorus, Ally joins in.

_You never know when to stop  
It's the way you keep me twisted  
It's just how I like it to be  
You never know when to stop  
So if you wake up and see me on the news  
I did it all for you  
I did it all for you_

On the next verse, Austin stops singing, but plays the guitar as Ally continues.

_There you go  
Love to cause trouble, I don't think you know  
Just how close  
I've been to doing the same  
_

_Steal your favourite car  
Drive every mile till we pop the tires  
No jail bars  
Are ever keeping us apart_

Austin joins in for the chorus again.

_You never know when to stop  
It's the way you keep me twisted  
It's just how I like it to be  
You never know when to stop  
So if you wake up and see me on the news  
I did it all for you  
I did it all for you_

_They're coming to get us, so we better run  
Are we gonna pay for the things that we've done?  
They're coming to get us, so we better run_

_They're coming to get us, so we better run  
Are we gonna pay for the things that we've done?  
They're coming to get us, so we better run_

_I did it all for you  
I did it all for you  
I did it all for you  
I did it all for you  
For you, for you, for you_

_I did it all for you  
I did it all for you_

The second they finish, their audience erupts into a loud cheer. She swears she can hear some shouts from behind them, too, and when she looks back she spots her band standing backstage cheering them on as well. She smiles, then quickly starts laughing from the joy she feels. She hasn't sang with Austin in front of an audience in some time, and she forgot how much she loves performing with him. If she's being honest, it's ten times better than performing solo has ever been, even if it's just him and her and a guitar in front of maybe 100 fans at a Q&amp;A and her bandmates backstage. It's perfect.

Austin speaks up first. "Thank you. Normally we'd have a piano in there, too, but..." He trails off, standing. "Thanks for letting me sing for you guys. I love singing with this incredible talent." He points to Ally. "You're definitely in for an amazing show tonight."

She smiles, then stands up beside him. "Thank you," she says, quiet enough that only he can hear. And, not caring that she has an audience (they certainly aren't the first to see this), she leans up and kisses him, ignoring both the cheering of her fans and a couple dramatic gags she can hear coming from backstage. She really doesn't care, though. She loves him, and she loves having the rest of the world know that.

But her happiness can't last forever, and when she gets on the bus later that night she quickly remembers that one thing she doesn't love is Austin getting in trouble, which is exactly what happens, as Trish calls once the show is over to talk.

"...Long story short, someone from the Q&amp;A must've thought it was a brilliant idea to record you guys singing and put it online. Jimmy saw and he wasn't happy about it," she explains.

"What did he say?" Ally asks.

"Not to let it happen again," she says.

Austin sighs and sets the phone down on the table. Because it's on speaker, the two of them are hearing the conversation at the same time, and he doesn't look pleased.

He sits up. "But what's the worst Jimmy could do? He's already taken away my music. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have anything else on me," he says.

Trish is quiet on the other end for a minute. Then she says, "I don't know, Austin. Dropping you from his label wouldn't do him any good, so that's out." She pauses. "He'd probably just do the same thing any rich guy who isn't getting what he wants would do."

When she doesn't continue, Ally says, "And what would that be?"

"Sue," Trish replies. "Austin isn't doing what is asked of him according to the contract he's signed. If he really wanted to, Jimmy could take this to court."

Ally looks up at Austin sitting across from her, watching him as he takes in this new information. He looks defeated, and she can't help but think that she's part of the reason he looks this way. Slowly, she reaches across the table and places her hand over his, squeezing lightly. He looks up and meets her gaze, a sad smile present.

"I'm sorry, Austin," she says.

He shrugs. "It's not your fault," he replies. To Trish, he says, "It's getting late. Thanks for calling, Trish."

"I'm sorry I had to," she says. "But I'll see you guys in LA next week, right?"

This thought brings a smile to both their faces. It's only been a month, but Ally already misses her best friends so much.

"Absolutely," she says. And with a final goodbye, they hang up. Whether it's her fault or not, her excitement to see her friends again might be the only thing to help make her feel better about the repercussions of everything that happened tonight with Austin. She only hopes it will do the same for him, too.

* * *

He didn't realize how much he missed his best friends in the past month until they're tackling him and Ally in a group hug in LA. He'd barely stepped foot out of the tour bus when he felt Dez, Trish, and Carrie throw their arms around the couple, excited to see them again.

Because Dez and Carrie know LA better than them (not much better, but considering he has no idea how to navigate his way through LA and they've been here a month, it's something), they decide to be their personal tour guides for the day. Trish tries to help, but she's only been in LA for a couple weeks, and all that time has been spent trying to get her boy band signed (so far, she hasn't had a lot of luck, but a couple labels are considering them). They check out a place called The Grove, where they look around some of the stores and find a place to sit down and eat. Thankfully, him and Ally don't have too many fan encounters, as all he wants is to spend time catching up with his friends.

But as they sit and talk, he begins to notice something that wasn't there before. Something different. It's not a bad difference, but it's something. And it's that his friends have all changed since he last saw them.

Trish has become more caring of her job in the last month, trying harder than ever before to help this new boy band. Dez's hair is shorter, and he's grown to love school, now that he's learning something he can actually enjoy. He's almost as bad as Ally when it comes to talking about it! And he's even excited about getting homework, too - granted, it's usually filming something, but still. And though they haven't known each other for long, he can see the change in Carrie, too. She's grown her hair out more, and her clothes aren't as wildly put together (they're still unique, still Carrie, but still different). She's actually looking to become a model, and she thinks she might've found the perfect job. All his friends have begun to change and grow, and he wasn't there to see it happen.

He tries not to think about this as he goes to bed that night, but he can't get it out of his mind that all of his friends are on these new and amazing journeys, and they don't all intertwine with each other. Apparently, he's not the only one feeling this way either, as after an hour (or was it two hours?) of trying to sleep and failing, he feels someone lightly shake his shoulder, and looks over to see Ally crouching by his bed.

"Hey," he says in surprise.

"Sorry if I woke you," she says. "I just -"

"Couldn't sleep?" he finishes for her. When she nods, he says, "Me neither."

"Oh, good," she says. "I mean, good that I didn't wake you up, not that you can't sleep, cause that's never good, that's bad and -"

His laughter cuts her off. "I know what you mean, Ally. It's fine."

"Oh." She pauses, then sighs. "Is it alright if I sleep next to you tonight, then?"

He nods. "Of course," he says, sliding over to make room for her. She climbs in next to him and lies down, resting her head on his shoulder. He thinks she's just gonna get comfortable and fall asleep, but instead she starts talking.

"I just needed to be around something familiar tonight, if you're wondering why I'm over here. Today was just..." She shakes her head, unable to find the right word.

"Different?" he suggests.

"Yeah," she agrees.

He nods. "I noticed it, too." He pauses. "It sort of felt like I was seeing new people, you know? I mean, they're our best friends, but they've changed. And we didn't see it happen."

She nods a little. "It's like sitting two pictures beside each and labeling them 'before' and 'after.' We're seeing the changes, but not the small stages in between to get from one to the other. And that feels weird because it's never been like that before. None of us have been apart long enough for something like that to happen. For us to start...growing up."

He sits up a little. "Growing up? What do you mean?"

She sits up with him. "You saw them. Trish has a steady job. Dez is in film school. Carrie's a model." She pauses. "I'm on my first tour. You've already done a tour. Don't you think that just seems so...definite? Like we're all on our way to the real world? And yet we're only 17?"

He nods slowly. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah, I think I see what you mean." He pauses. "Like how I gave up my music career to be with you. Kinda feels like I just set us up for the rest of our lives then."

She nods, a smile appearing on her face. "Maybe you did," she says, and in that moment they both know that there will never be anybody else for them but each other, but this only makes them happier.

He smiles as she continues. "All of this should scare me. Growing up. But it doesn't. I'm proud of Trish for finding a job that she loves, and I'm happy for Dez for going after what he wants, and I'm glad Carrie has found something she wants to do. I only get more excited every day about this tour. And being with you, it's perfect."

His smile grows. "It is, isn't it?" he says, then leans down and places a kiss on her temple.

"I hope you meant that about being with me," she jokes, and he laughs in response.

"No, Ally, I definitely meant that about me, because I make everything perfect," he replies, which only causes her to burst out laughing. She covers her mouth to stifle the sound, but it doesn't do a very good job, and suddenly they're both laughing out loud and they can't figure out why.

When they calm down enough to speak again, he says, "We should probably get to sleep now, huh?"

She nods. "Yeah, I think so," she says.

He lies down again, his arm around her shoulders and her head against his chest. As he closes his eyes, he says, "Good night, Ally."

She already sounds far away when she says, "Good night, Austin," as he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

On her day off, Austin suggests they take a rest stop in Malibu before they have to leave California.

"Why Malibu?" she asks.

He shrugs. "I've never been. I didn't get to stop here on my tour last year, and I wanna check it out."

"You just wanna go to the beach, don't you?"

He laughs. "Can you blame me?"

She doesn't, so she agrees to go. But surprisingly, they don't spend all day at the beach. It turns out Malibu can put together some really great carnivals, too. They check out the rides (he drags her on one too many roller coasters, so she makes him come on the Ferris Wheel with her) and they play some games (she's not the best at skee-ball, but as much as she loves the feeling of his arms around her as he helps her throw, she'd rather win on her own merits). And when it starts to get dark, they take a walk on the nearest beach and spend the whole time talking.

It's during this talk that she realizes just how close she's grown to Austin over the past month. She didn't think it was possible for her to love him more than she did that night at the award show, but she does. And the more they talk, the more she thinks she doesn't want this day to end. It's not enough to just go back to that stuffy tour bus of hers, where they might talk for another hour before falling asleep in separate beds. She'd rather go anywhere than there tonight, so long as he goes with her.

Her phone beeps, pulling her out of her thoughts and cutting Austin off from telling a story about a trip he went on when he was 8. Reluctantly, she takes the phone out of her pocket.

She groans. "It's Tyler," she says, referring to her drummer. "They want us back in ten minutes so we can start heading to Nevada."

Austin sighs. "We should probably start walking back, then," he says, but makes no move to actually do so.

They stand quietly on the beach, thinking the same thing but neither of them brave enough to say it. Finally, Ally speaks up.

Not quite meeting his gaze, she says, "I don't want to go back yet."

He tightens his grip on her hand, causing her to look up. "Me, neither," he says.

She takes in a deep breath. "Then maybe we shouldn't."

He waits a moment before nodding in agreement, and she knows there's no going back after this. She's in much too deep to try dragging herself out of this one, but right now she's not sure she wants to.

Silently, they walk the streets together until they find a small hotel far enough from the bus that no one might think to look for them at. It's not too busy, and aside from the lights on in the lobby and one of the rooms upstairs, everyone staying must already be sleeping, so they collect their key quietly before heading to their room.

Once they find it, they step inside slowly, flicking on the light and shutting the door behind them. It's small compared to most hotels she's stayed at before, containing only one bed, a nightstand and a dresser, and a second door leading into the washroom. They set their things down at the foot of the bed, quiet.

Suddenly, she's not sure what she should say or do. They may sleep in the same room on the tour bus, but this is different. Save for the time she slept next to Austin in LA, she's never shared a bed with a guy before. And with him standing right behind her, his gaze so piercing she can feel it, she's nervous.

He speaks up first, quiet. "You okay?" he asks.

She takes a deep breath before turning around to meet his concerned gaze. "Yeah," she says, smiling reassuringly. "I'm okay."

He smiles back, and she can see that he's nervous, too. Somehow, this knowledge gives her the confidence she needs to wrap her arms around his neck and pulls him to her, kissing him slowly. He places his hands on her back, then tightens his grip on her and pulls her closer to deepen the kiss. She begins to lose herself in it, and she starts kissing him with an intensity she didn't know she had, catching him off guard. She takes a step backward, blind to her surroundings and stumbling a little as she goes, until the back of her legs bump into the edge of the bed and she topples backwards, pulling him with her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows she should stop, or at least slow down, but as he tosses his shirt to the floor and his hands reach for the hem of hers to join it, she doesn't care. He's too intoxicating, and as the rest of their clothes come off, she lets herself get lost in him for the night.

When she wakes up the next morning, his arm is loose around her waist, and she can lightly feel his breathing on the back of her neck. Slowly, she manages to slip out of his grip on her without waking him up, then walks into the washroom to take a shower. Memories of last night flood into her mind, and she replays the way he trailed kisses on her neck and slid his hand down her side until she steps out. When she walks back into the room, he's already awake and dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her. He looks up quickly as the door opens, so she gives him a small smile before grabbing her bag from where she set it and pulls out her phone to check her messages.

She hears him stand up and walk over to her, but keeps her eyes down as she scrolls through all her unread texts and voicemails on her phone. Finally, he clears his throat and speaks up.

"I thought we agreed on no phones for the day," he says.

She glaces up at him quickly, startled to find him standing so close to her. He must notice, because he chuckles and takes another step toward her, his chest bumping into her arm. She relaxes, then smirks at him. "That was yesterday. If it helps, I just turned it on now." She looks back at her phone and says, "I have 7 voicemails from the band, all probably asking where we are, 4 texts from Trish about _her_ band, and 2 texts from Dez - one asking if I know where he left his phone and the next telling me to ignore his previous text."

As she goes to type out a reply to Bea, one of her backup singers, about her and Austin's whereabouts, she feels her boyfriend slide his arms around her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder. It only gets worse (or better, depending on how one looks at it) when he presses his lips to the side of her neck and starts kissing down it.

She tries to laugh, but it comes out shaky. This makes him laugh, and he begins to kiss up her neck, then cheek, until finally she turns her head and he kisses her mouth, his hands slowly trailing her arms. She's not aware of what he's trying to do until she feels him pull her phone out her hand and jumps back, holding it behind him.

She turns around and tries to grab for it, but he just steps out of the way.

"Not fair!" she says. "You distracted me."

He shrugs. "Not my fault you're so easily distracted by me," he says. "Besides, the least you could do is say 'hello' before you start typing away."

She just crosses her arms and glares at him playfully.

"What? You're not gonna say it?" he asks. "I'll take 'good morning,' too. Or 'How are you this morning, Austin?' Unless you have something better?"

She laughs and rolls her eyes at his impression of her. Instead of saying anything, she walks up to him, then places her hands on the side of his face and kisses him. He freezes for a second before sinking into the kiss. With him distracted, she's able to reach out and take her phone back from him, then pulls away, leaning back on her feet.

"Who's the easily distracted one now?" she says, waving her phone in front of him.

Instead of responding, he just chuckles, a smile on his face.

She smiles back. "Hi, Austin."

He grins. "Hi, Ally," he says.

* * *

It's while watching one of Ally's shows that he starts feeling it. A longing for something he no longer has. As he listens to the crowd cheering and the band playing, he almost wishes it was for him. But then he shakes his head. He can't start thinking that way, not while in the middle of Ally's tour. He's here to be with her, to support her, not to watch her and wish he was able to put on his own concerts, too.

But even after the show is over and they're back on the bus, he can't seem to get rid of that feeling of nostalgia. And her bus looks _so much like his_. If he closes his eyes, he can almost imagine he's on his own tour right now, heading to his next sold out show after tonight's crazy one. He can remember what it sounded like to hear his fans cheering his name from backstage as he got ready, and their shouts as he ran on stage and started singing. And the rush he got from performing, he can almost reach out and touch if he thinks hard enough. But then he opens his eyes and spots Ally sitting next to him, and he remembers why he's here, and that there's a reason he can no longer hear the cheers or feel the rush anymore, and he knows it's not for nothing. He gave all of that up to be with her, and he knows it was worth it. So why is he starting to miss something he thought he could live without?

She looks up at him from her book and smiles, and he can feel a bit of that rush coming back as her gaze meets his. Performing isn't the only thing that could make him feel this way. Just looking at her gives him the same feeling. And he can think back to a night only a week ago when it was just him and her and no space between them and nothing could compare to the way he felt. He smiles at her now, but then he has to look away in hopes that she won't notice any of the guilt he's afraid is practically written all over his face.

"You okay?" she asks when he does this. Maybe he didn't look away fast enough and she caught it. But maybe it was just the looking away in general. He's never been the one to look away first whenever they look at each other (he's the kind to goof around and stare at his girlfriend long enough to make her blush and look away, which only makes him smile even more).

He looks up again. "I'm fine. Why?" he asks, hoping it comes out casually.

It must, because she looks relieved. "Just asking," she says, then goes back to reading her book.

Before she gets too far into the book, he speaks up again. "Ally?" he says.

She looks up. "Yeah?"

He takes a deep breath. "You know I love you. Right?"

She smiles. "Of course," she says. "You know I love you, too. Right?"

He smiles. "Of course."

She glances down at her book again, but only for a few seconds before she says, "Are you sure you're alright, Austin?"

He nods. "I'm positive," he says.

She nods in understanding, but it's slow and he thinks that maybe she doesn't believe him, after all. Nevertheless, she drops the conversation and goes back to reading. He almost expects her to look up again and continue interrogating him until he admits the truth, but she never does.

In fact, she seems to have completely forgotten about their short but odd conversation the next day. She talks to him with the same smile on her face, kisses him with the same passion, and never once shoots him any concerned looks as she performs. Either she's waiting for the right time to talk to him, or she believes he's alright.

If only his feelings could go back to normal as easily as hers. As he watches her show that night, he almost swears he can hear his name being shouted somewhere in the crowd. He knows he's imagining it, but a part of him still wishes he wasn't. He wants so badly to be on that stage right now, especially with her. But he can't, and he can't escape the feeling that he's no longer okay with this. He wants his music back.

That night after the show, he pulls out his guitar and starts strumming it. With his newly changed feelings, he's suddenly afraid to play music around Ally, fearing she'll see through his act and realize he wants to perform again. So he waited until she became tired and headed off to bed to start playing. Unfortunately, he forgot how light of a sleeper Ally can be, and it's not until it's too late that he remembers this.

"Do you miss your music, Austin?" he hears from the bedroom doorway, and looks up to see Ally standing there, arms crossed and a concerned expression on her face.

At first he's afraid him playing his guitar alone brought this question on, but as he stops playing, he realizes that while he was, he was strumming the chords to Double Take. The song that got him famous.

He sighs, then sets the guitar down beside him. She walks into the room and sits next to him on the couch, then takes his hand.

Without looking up, he says, "Yeah. I do miss my music."

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asks.

"I didn't want you to get the wrong impression."

"Wrong impression?"

He nods. "You know," he starts. "I was afraid that if you knew I was beginning to miss performing, you'd think that I was regretting my decision to give up my career for you. And that you'd think I'd start blaming you."

"Austin..." she starts, but he cuts her off.

"I know, I know. You know I'd never start thinking that way - which I never will, I swear." He pauses, shrugging. "I just didn't want to risk it, I guess."

Ally sighs, tightening her grip on his hand. She's quiet for a long time before she speaks again. "I understand why you're afraid of that. I mean, that second week on tour while you were gone I think I almost did start thinking that way. But you reassured me that everything would be okay, and I believed you. I still do." She pauses. "But now it's my turn to reassure you. Know that you can talk to me about this, Austin. You can talk to me about anything, regardless of how I might feel about it. And if we don't agree, I know we'll always find a way to get through it."

He smiles. "I know," he says. "This isn't exactly an easy thing to talk about, but...I know I can talk to you about it."

She smiles. Sliding closer to him on the couch, she says, "Now that that's settled, you wanna tell me what's been bothering you?"

He takes a deep breath, then nods. "It started during your show the other day," he says. "I felt like I was missing a part of me that I shouldn't miss. I tried not to think about it, but...I couldn't help it. I miss making music, and performing for my fans. I miss being able to do simple things like sing with you at one of your concerts whenever you want. I love being on tour with you, but I'd love to be on tour _with_ you, performing together on stage." He pauses. "I'd never take back what I did in a million years. But I'm scared, Ally. Ten years is a long time to go without making music. It's been my dream since I was a kid, and now it's gone. What if no one wants to hear me anymore in ten years? What if I can never sing again? What am I gonna do then, Ally?"

He didn't realize how strongly he'd felt about losing his music until then, when he told Ally. But now that he has, he knows it's true. He really is scared. What will happen in ten years when his contract is up and he's free to perform again? Will people still want to hear his music? Or will he become some one-hit wonder that make people ask about where he is now?

Ally pulls him in for a hug, and he hold her tight to him, resting his chin on her shoulder. He feels something wet slide down his cheek, and is surprised to realize he's crying. He's never been one to cry often (except at the occasional romance movie, but you didn't hear that from him), and he certainly doesn't want Ally to see it, so he pulls her closer and rests his forehead on her shoulder, hoping she won't notice.

They sit like this for a few minutes, quiet, before Ally finally pulls back. He tries to look down so she doesn't see the tears still present, but she must because she places her hands on his face and lightly guides his gaze back to hers.

"Hey," she says quietly, gently wiping the remainder of his tears away. "We're gonna figure it out, okay? We're not giving up on you. Trish, Dez, and I, we're all in this with you. Okay?"

He attempts a smile, which in turn causes Ally to smile a little, too. He nods.

"Okay," he says, then wraps his arms around her again. "Thank you, Ally."

"You're welcome," she says.

"I love you. I love you so much right now," he adds with a laugh.

She laughs, too. "I love you, too," she says, then pulls back. "Come on. We should probably head to bed now."

He nods, then lets her take his hand and lead him into the bedroom for the night. Maybe he will be okay, after all.

* * *

That night, after he tells her his worries about his career, she has trouble falling asleep. She lies wide awake for over an hour, the only sound being his slow breathing next to her and her own thoughts swarming in her mind. What are they going to do?

She still believes him when he says he doesn't regret his decision. She knows he doesn't blame her for it. Her worries are centred around his career now. What are they going to do about it? Can they try and negotiate with Jimmy again? Try and make him see reason? Or should they just forget about Starr Records in general and look for a way to get Austin out of his contract? Then he'd at least have the freedom to sing whenever he wants without worry, and hopefully find a better record label not long after.

But none of that sounds easy, and even though she's willing to do anything if it means getting him his career back, there's not enough time for her to try with her tour going on. But she wants to do _something_. She has to. And if she can't get his career back just yet, the least she could do is find a way to get his spirits back up. And she just might have the perfect idea on how to do so.

A few days later, with the help of her bandmates and the VIP's at her show that night, she's able to put it to work.

Nearing the end of her concert, just before her last song, Jason (her guitarist) grabs two stools and pulls them to the front of the stage for them. When she's sat down, she turns to her crowd and says, "So I wanted to do something a little different tonight. Recently I finished writing a new song, and I was hoping you guys would be willing to hear it." After receiving a loud cheer from her fans, she laughs and says, "I guess that's a yes." She pauses to let Jason get his guitar ready to play, then says, "This song is called 'Almost Home,' and it's dedicated to someone very special. I hope you like it."

Jason begins playing, and a couple seconds later, she sings.

_Lost in innocence  
Take this fragile heart  
We know where we've been  
All these miles together_

_Fall into my skin  
Crash into these arms  
We know how this ends  
Fade into forever_

The chorus starts, with Jason singing backup.

_The road is wild  
We're holding on for life  
Like a child  
Who's not afraid to cry  
We're escaping to a place they'll never know  
Just you and me, love  
We are almost home_

The song is a bit different from what she's used to writing, but when she started it the night after her talk with Austin, she knew it was perfect. She only hopes he thinks so, too.

She sings through the second verse and chorus again, then starts up the bridge, but with no music as she does.

_Promise you I'll be  
The promise you can keep  
Till the end of time  
And on the other side_

_The road is wild  
We're holding on for life  
Like a child  
Who's not afraid to cry  
We're escaping to a place they'll never know  
Just you and me, love  
Just you and me, love  
Just you and me, love  
We are almost home_

She finishes the song, and the crowd goes wild. As Jason takes away the stools and walks back to his original spot, Ally says, "Thank you. I'm really glad you liked it." She then turns and faces backstage, where she knows he's standing. "Austin, could you come on stage for a minute?" she asks.

She can hear the cheering getting louder as he steps onto the stage and walks over to her with a confused look, but she can hardly hear it, her mind consumed only with thoughts of this plan going right and him.

When he reaches her, he takes a mic from one of the extra stands and says, "So. Was that song for me, by any chance?"

She laughs, then takes his hand and says, "Mayyybe. Why, did you like it?"

He answers this by leaning down and kissing her cheek. "I loved it."

She smiles. "Thank you."

"Thank _you_," he replies. "Now, can I ask what I'm doing up here?"

She nods. "After everything you've done for me, I wanted to do something special for you," she starts. "I know you've been having a bit of a tough time dealing with this dent in your career, so I wanted to show you that, no matter what you're doing, no matter when you get back into music, I'm not going anywhere. And neither are your fans." Turning to the crowd, she says, "Guys?"

All at once, the fans in the front row lift up four signs that line up to say WE ❤ YOU AUSTIN as the crowd shouts, "We love you, Austin!"

"And we always will," Ally says.

Austin laughs in amazement. "I love you guys, too," he says. "Thank you." Then he looks at Ally. "Was this your idea?"

She nods. Moving the mic away so only he hears her, she says, "You told me how worried you felt about your fans losing interest in you and I hated seeing you like that. I don't know if this will be enough to rid you of that entirely, but I had to try. Because it's true, Austin. No one's going anywhere anytime soon."

He smiles, and the next thing she knows he has his lips on hers in a hard kiss. She quickly kisses him back, enjoying the moment before pulling away first.

"We have an audience, you know," she says.

"That's never stopped us," he replies. She just laughs.

"Okay, I have a show I need to wrap up now," she says, lighting shoving him in the direction of the backstage. He puts the mic back, then kisses her on the cheek once more before eventually walking off stage to let her finish out her show.

But apparently he wasn't done practically showering her with kisses, as the first thing he does when they get on the bus later than night is pull her into a passionate kiss. Immediately, she drops the bag she was holding to wrap her arms around his neck, keeping him close, his hands making their way down her back before resting on her hips. They haven't kissed this intensely since that night in Malibu, and she thinks that might be where this is heading when he finally pulls back.

She giggles. "What was that for?" she asks.

He just smiles and says, "I couldn't very well kiss you like that on stage, now could I?"

Repeating his own words from earlier, she says, "That's never stopped us before, now has it?"

He laughs, then leans in and kisses her again, this one slow and soft and gentle. When he pulls back, he says, "I don't think I've told you that I love you for what you did today."

"You don't have to. You tell me everyday that you love me."

"Well, I wanna say it again," he says, earning a laugh from her. "So. I love you, Ally. I love you for the song you wrote for me. I love you for setting up that amazing surprise tonight. I love you for everything."

She smiles. "I love you, too, Austin. For everything."

He kisses her once more, slowly but deeply, before pulling back and saying, "We should probably get to bed now or else we're never gonna get any sleep."

She laughs, then jokingly says, "Maybe I don't want any sleep tonight."

He just shakes his head at her, a smile on his face. "Come on, let's go."

She fake pouts, but nonetheless lets him drag into the bedroom for the night. And with his arm around her waist and his chin lightly pressing into her shoulder as they sleep, she smiles and wonders how she got so lucky as to wind up with someone like him.

* * *

The next two weeks of Ally's tour are quite possibly the best two weeks ever - at least, in his opinion.

All of her shows are sold out, and Ally performs incredibly at each one. She doesn't pull any more surprises again, but on occasion, she will perform 'Almost Home' if someone asks her to. It seems to be everyone's new favourite song all of a sudden, and even Ronnie calls one night to tell her that they _have_ to get it recorded and released as soon as her tour is over. He doesn't blame them for loving it so much. It's definitely his favourite, too (but then again, he might be _slightly_ biased). Her career is really taking off now, and he couldn't be more proud of her.

Not only is her music going over well, but their relationship couldn't get any better than it is now. She manages to find time in between rehearsals and soundchecks for them to hang out, and days off are reserved for the two of them to explore the city they're currently passing through together (though no more overnighters, thanks to her band hovering around them like hawks so they don't wander off when it's getting close to leaving time). Every minute he spends with her helps him get his mind off his own music, too. He still hasn't forgotten that rush, but he thinks the feeling she gives him is even better, an intense feeling of power and love, like he's capable of anything and everything as long as they're together. He finds himself missing her when she's not with him, but he stopped letting this scare him a long time ago. He's in love with her and she's in love with him, and even if he never sets foot on stage again, he knows he'll be okay.

Because he's been feeling so accepting of his career (or lack of) for what might be the first time ever since the award show, the last thing he expects is a phone call from Trish concerning his career.

"I have good news and bad news," she says when he answers.

Ally's just finishing her soundcheck when he got this call, so as she approaches him with a questioning look he mouths Trish's name before saying, "What's the good news?"

"Jimmy called," she starts. "He said to tell you that he's been reconsidering his decision and might be willing to negotiate with you in the future."

Austin nods. He's surprised, that's for sure, but he knows better than to get his hopes up too quickly. This is Jimmy they're dealing with, after all. "Okay," he says. "That sounds good." He pauses before asking, "What's the bad news?"

Trish sighs. "He also said not to get your hopes up, as the future could be anywhere from tomorrow to a year or even 5 years from now."

"Oh," he says. He expected something like that. Still, he adds, "That's a long time."

"Yeah."

He tries to shrug it off and says, "I guess that's better than nothing."

"I guess so," Trish agrees. Then, "But don't worry too much about it, Austin. We'll figure something out."

He smiles. "I know. Thanks, Trish."

"No problem," she replies. And with a good-bye, she hangs up.

Once he pockets his phone, Ally speaks. "So, what did Trish call about?"

He takes her hand as they start walking back to her dressing room, then says, "Jimmy called her. Apparently he's been reconsidering his decision to not let me make music anymore."

She smiles at this. Squeezing his hand, she says, "That's amazing, Austin!"

He nods. "It is," he agrees. "_But_ he also told her that we might end up waiting years for him to call again. He's still not sure."

Her smile falters. "Oh," she says. She tries to look happy again, but he can see in her eyes that she's worried. "At least he called. And he's thinking about it. That's gotta mean something, right?"

He just nods. He lets go of her hand and puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "I hope so," he says. "But I've got nothing to worry about. I still have you, don't I?"

She smiles, wrapping her arm around his waist as they walk. And he's right. As Trish said, he knows better than to stress too much about this. Everything will happen it its own time, and until it does, he has everything he needs.

* * *

**Why I take so long to write a story, I have no idea. Also, not sure if I'm completely satisfied with how I ended this, but I kinda like it being open-ended, so I guess it works.**

**Thank you _so much_ for reading! I know it's really long, but as I said before, I couldn't split it. I wanted it to be a one-shot, so I left it a one-shot. And I really am pleased with how it turned out. And I'd _really, really_ appreciate it if you reviewed. I hate "begging" for reviews, but I did work really hard on this and I'd really like to know what you thought of it. If you don't want to review, I will survive, but they're always nice to receive. But yeah. And once again, thank you for reading! I hope I didn't waste your time with this (kidding! But seriously). I should stop now.**


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